The Reason
by Samanthabreathes
Summary: What if it wasn't Niklaus who had told Kol that Elena was off limits? What if someone else was making sure that both Elena and her humanity remained safe? Deleted scene from 3x19


**Disclaimer:** I don't own TVD, and if I did this would have totally been in the scene.

A/N: Inspiration for the title came from Hoobastank's The Reason.

I had a bit of an idea while watching this scene over again and decided to run with it. Enjoy! :)

* * *

Elena struggled to stand; she could feel the blood sliding down the side of her forehead, her head throbbed from her collision with the side-table. With a building sigh, she pushed herself upwards and raised a hand to the cut, fingering the soft area around it. Large enough to produce a gaping wound, small enough for her to avoid stitches and an E.R.

Kol was still beating Damon with the bat in front of her. She could hear the sickening cracks of Damon's bones being shattered under the force of the bat and Kol's alluring accent as he goaded Damon. Her stomach twisted and turned as each blow made contact with Damon's curled form.

"What," her voice was raspy, her body ached and black spots appeared briefly before her eyes, "did you mean?"

Kol paused in mid-motion and turned to grace her with an eloquent lift of his brows. Damon writhed in front of him; his bones wouldn't heal in time for him to make any sort of attack for a short while. "What did I mean by what, exactly, angel face?"

She braced herself of the same table that Kol had shoved her into, "Klaus. Why the sudden interest in my wellbeing?" Anger was brewing inside of her. Anger at Kol for hurting Damon, anger at herself for letting Jeremy move so far away, and the constant anger towards Klaus peaked to a new impressive high.

Elena was tired of his schemes and the way he seemed to think it was okay for him to jerk her around like a puppet on a string. She was no puppet. She certainly wasn't his puppet, or his anything, for that matter. He didn't own her, goddammit.

"Oh," Kol smacked Damon upside the head with the bat when he struggled to push himself up, effectively knocking him unconscious. "You mean the bit about my brother, hmm?" He started towards her, a smile transforming his features from malicious to charming. Seeing the spark of fear flash in her eyes, Kol tossed the bat over to the side and held up his hands in what seemed to be a gesture of peace. "Yes, well, I wasn't referring to Niklaus then.

You see, I love my brother- Niklaus, that is- but my loyalties belong elsewhere. I don't trust Niklaus. Never have, never will. He did dagger me for quite sometime and then blackmailed me into helping him with this whole mess." Kol ran a hand through his hair in agitation over the matter, "I do, however, trust my older brother with my life. So when he asked me to play a double-agent, I was more than willing to oblige him. Plus, he's always been my favorite, but- shh- don't tell Niklaus."

Confusion flittered across Elena's features before realization kicked in. The ball in her stomach- the same ball that had been twisting her gut ever since she placed his letter into her bedside drawer- clenched in response.

_Elijah._

Kol grinned brightly once her eyes sparkled with the new knowledge of just who exactly wanted her safe from harm. "I was sent here for two reasons, angel face. The first was to kill Scary Mary- that order came from my overly paranoid brother, Niklaus. The second reason was to follow," he tapped her nose gently, "you."

Elena was incapable of words just quite yet, so Kol continued to spill all of the behind the scenes details that she hadn't been privy to beforehand.

"Though second reason can be classified more as a continuous task. I've been keeping tabs on you since you scooped up your brother in Denver." Kol's dark eyes flickered over to Damon's lifeless form, "Being able to seek revenge for my previous humiliation and my eldest brother's death was a bit of a side perk, honestly. One that Elijah," he fingered the gash along the side of her head, "won't be too pleased to hear about."

"Wh-" Her heartbeat picked up at the sound of his name and Kol must have misinterpreted for fear rather than something...else.

"No harm shall come to you, darling." He bit into his skin and forced his blood into her system. The rush of it, the intoxicating taste of his blood, quickly swarmed her senses and warmth subsequently filled her head. "There, all better."

Elena felt a bit dizzy and completely disoriented. The many sides of the Mikaelsons was slowly starting to terrify her, "I-"

"Shh, don't speak." Kol smiled down at her, slightly puzzled for reasons unbeknownst to her. "I could kill you now, you know. Take you to him, make it easier for you- and for him. Turn you now and save you the heartache of destroying both the Salvatores once you do finally turn." A gasp slipped from her lips but he paid her no mind, "You and I both know quite well that its bound to happen- and soon, love. Where Niklaus goes, trouble and death willingly follows."

"I don't want to..."

Kol looked at her sadly and, for a moment, Elena could see a scared little boy feeling the same emotions she felt radiating through her. "I know." His lips brushed her forehead, surprising her with his sudden tenderness. "He doesn't want you to either. My brother treasures your humanity greatly..but not as much as he seems to treasures you."

The ball in her stomach evaporated into a swimming warmth that shot straight to her chest. Her heartbeat picked up as if he was in the room himself, and a strange giddiness built up inside of her, curving her lips into a smile.

"Well, I should get going." Kol eyed Scary Mary, and then Damon, with undisguised distaste. "I'll send him your regards, shall I?"

"Please." The word slipped from her lips such with eagerness that Kol's smirk transformed into a pleased grin before his lips slipped back into an unemotional thin line.

"Alrighty, then. See you in your second life, angel face."

With that, he was gone. Leaving her alone with an unconscious Damon, the daggered body of Scary Mary and her own thoughts.

Elena let out a large breath, one that she didn't even realize she was holding; her lungs ached from holding it in for so long. Sitting down shakily on the bed, she dropped her head in her hands and brushed the tears from her eyes.

Elijah was watching over her, keeping tabs on her wellbeing and making sure that Kol would be able to step in if something did happen. But why? Why was he going to such lengths to make sure she was safe?

And, if what Kol had said was true, then had Kol seen her kiss with Damon? Had he really been watching since their first initial contact? And by Elijah's request, nonetheless?

A strange sense of guilt coiled around her throat and squeezed the air out of her lungs.

Would he tell Elijah about the kiss?

Cradling her head between her hands, she wondered why she suddenly felt so much guilt over the incident. She hadn't even felt this much guilt when Stefan's name had been grumbled- multiple times, might she add- by Jeremy in the car.

The guilt had been there, sure. No doubt about that. It had haunted her. Churning inside of her stomach and causing her to feel weak at the mere thought of hurting Stefan yet again by kissing his brother.

But this...this suffocating feeling of sheer betrayal sunk deep into her stomach and was so, so much worse.

Oh, God. What had she done?

Hearing Damon stirring, she instantly went to help him up and put her thoughts of Elijah off to the side until the car ride home.


End file.
